History and art
ITALY IS LIKE AFINE FABRIC, MADE OF ART, HISTORY, AGE-OLD TRADITIONS AND OUTSTANDING ARTISAN MASTERY
"Italy is like a fine fabric, made of art, history, age-old traditions and outstanding artisan mastery. Its weft and warp is intertwined with delicate yet strong threads of creativity, representing the stories of those who have helped to weave Italy’s magnificent heritage that is renowned throughout the world.
Mastro Raphael is one of these exceptional threads. With passion, sensibility, a distinguished background of artisan expertise, and today with state-of-the-art technolo gical know-how, Mastro Raphael mixes colors, shapes and materials to give life to a refined and timeless aesthetic of elegance and beauty that is always original. Mastro Raphael animates a concept of beauty in which harmony, elegance, modernity and tradition find their own unique dimension perfect combination."
Mario Arcangeli Mario Arcangeli
President and founder of Mastro Raphael
The story of Mastro Raphael's origins can be summed up in this sentence: "Discover the nature of things and you will know how they should be made." These are the words of Mario Arcangeli, the founder of the firm based in Umbria. Entering the tailoring trade at a
young age, he discovered the pleasure of giving form to ideas and translating his concept of beauty into material. Then, in 1966, Arcangeli opened a small artisan workshop, followed by a bottega in Via Palazzo dei Duchi the following year. This is still today the location of Mastro Raphael's store in Spoleto.
Lying in the heart of Umbria, Spoleto is steeped in the same beauty that inspires Mastro Raphael. It is a special place due to its historical treasures and prominent position in Italy's cultural landscape. But it is also a crossroads of international creativity thanks to the Festival of the Two Worlds. A turning point for the city with its first edition in 1958, the event was founded by the musician and composer Gian Carlo Menotti to establish a cultural connection between
Europe and the United States, his country of adoption.
It was a way "to give something back to the community", says Mario Arcangeli, his friend and fellow creative spirit, and "to feel that the artist belonged here"
SPOLETO, A CITY RICH IN ART AND HISTORY
The festival has naturally become part of Spoleto's history, showcasing the city's constellation of shining artistic episodes to the world.
Originally a key settlement of the Umbri tribes, Spoleto was conquered by the Romans and turned into a Latin colony, but with the invasion of the Lombards it became the capital of an influential dukedom. These historical vicissitudes are reflected in the abundance of artistic masterpieces spread around Spoleto: the Basilica of San Salvatore, the Temple of Clitumnus, the frescoes by Filippo Lippi in the Cathedral and the Rocca Albornoz fortress, with the Camera Pinta (Painted Room).
The veil of oblivion that time then cast over Spoleto was lifted thanks to Menotti's festival, which once again illuminated the city by attracting famous artists and designers, including the American architect Howard Dilday in 1971. This encounter triggered the artistic and experimental calling of Mastro Raphael, giving rise to famous patchworks that the company has reinterpreted over the years with embroideries, applications and new fabrics.
FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION, CREATIVITY AND LOVE FOR ITS ROOTS
Mastro Raphael has always strived to produce innovative collections. Indeed, thanks to its farsighted creativity, it has been a veritable trendsetter with designs such as the Api and Coralli motifs and the Poems curtains, among others.
The key to reading the company's path is constituted, on the one hand, by the love for one's roots and the recovery of the artisan tradition and, on the other, by the reinterpretation of historical memory and attention to innovation and technology.
These principles, together with the extreme attention to detail, sartorial purity, the use of natural yarns and fabrics constitute the foundations of luxury and absolute quality of the Mastro Raphael collections.
Currently, the brand is distributed in over 400 stores in Italy, and in just as many shops located around Europe, Russia, the United States and the Middle East.
Culture, ideas, innovation, artistic intuition and craftsmanship - the core values of Mastro Raphael - are thus carried throughout the world.
THE VOCATION OF MASTRO RAPHAEL, THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY
Our values are ideas, a concept of culture that inspires research, artistic intuition and artisan expertise. These are the ideal tools to fullfil our vocation: the search for beauty. And the means to achieve this goal are our manufacturing capacity, our mastery of production techniques, and our excellent craftsmanship developed over 50 years, added to the use of state-of-the-art technologies.
The ability to keep pace with the latest innovations, combined with a constant search for ideas and a dynamic creativity, place Mastro Raphael in the class of top-quality manufacturing, defined by refined collections of bed linens and interior design fabrics.